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What Are You Most Worried About: Obsessing About It May Make It Happen, Say Researchers

What's the big worry that haunts your thoughts most these days? Strangely, say researchers, obsessing about those fears may make them come true--in some cases, at least ...

Got stress (who doesn't?)? Use my favorite motto: acknowledge it and move on, as best you can. Here's why, say Australian researchers whose study appeared in a recent edition of the British Medical Journal: When you worry too much that something bad may happen, it just might.

The study looked at elderly people. Those who worried most about falling were twice as likely to actually fall than those who said they didn't worry too much about the risk of falling and injuring themselves.

Sure, you're not 70 years old, and you don't worry about falling--but it's a good reminder of the power of psychological persuasion. Yes, being careful in life and trying to avoid dangerous situations is good, but this study reminds us that when we put too much energy into a worry, it might backfire. What's worrying you these days? And, are you putting too much energy into worries? More reading: